NOTES: Vaas comes into the picture in this chapter, and I am having so much fun with his character.
Caution, I used strong language in this.

Florence + The Machine - "Remain Nameless", "Breath Of Life"; Lana Del Rey - "Off To The Races"

Part 2 - Tension and torture

"Hey! Hey, hermano, what the fuck do you think you're doing there! Huh?!" A piercing voice, full of anger, exuding authority, one that I hadn't heard before, came into the picture. The man hitting me hesitated, his hits and kicks stopped. My body cringed with pain, and I could barely breathe.
"Why do you think you can just go around and fucking slaughter my fucking hostages?" – "Vaas, this is the one that -" A dull bash was to be heard, and the man landed on the ground next to me. "Stay away from them, amigo!"
The stranger – Vaas – approached me. His steps were lighter than the other men's, but just the sound of his voice had me shivering, and the fact that he could beat down a heavy man like that with just one hit prove enormous strength. He crouched down to me, so that I could make out his appearance and, most importantly, his face through my blurry vision.
"Seniorita, everything alright? Yes? Eventhough it was a rough welcome, I hope you will have a pleasant stay here at my camp. I am Vaas, your host." he said with a hint of mocking in his voice. "Pleased to meet you" Unable to answer him, I only stared into his face. As I had already assumed, he had very muscular arms that were covered in tattoos and he wore a mohawk.
"Not very talkative, huh? I get that. I get it." Without hesitation, the pirate lifted me up in his arms and carried me back into the cage. Jon was sitting back in the corner of the cage, his face full of horror. Vaas laid me down cautiously, then looked at Jon. "You know…" He started yelling. "I don't like the way you are fucking looking at me, hermano!" In an instant, the pirate-leader was on his feet and hit the metal cage just above Jon's head. The whole construction was shaking. "There's a reason why I am the one with the fucking balls around here! You're my hostages. You're mine. Fucking act like it! Get well soon, seniorita. Bye, bye." He turned around and went to lock the cage, waved at us with an ironic smile and left us alone again, the other pirate on his heels.
As soon as Vaas had left, Jon came over to me and rolled me around, so that I lay on my back. "Breathe deeply, Emilia" he said, and I could tell that he was struggling not to sound as horrified as he was. I, myself, was horrified aswell, I could not blame him. The appearance of the creature that was Vaas was imprinted onto my mind, his voice was still in my ear. I could not tell if I hadn't been able to answer his question because I'd been in so much pain or because I was paralyzed at the sight of him. His plain appearance, the way he spoke, instantly sent goose bumps down my spine, he'd been so much scarier and more powerful than every one of the other pirates. Yes, there was a reason he was the one with the balls.
"Don't move" Vaas, Vaas, Vaas. I didn't even feel much pain as Jon checked my body for any broken bones or major injuries. Why had he stopped the man from beating me to death? What was his intention? His calm, almost caring voice when he'd picked her up almost had her thinking he was better than them – but he seemed to be completely volatile, yelling at them a moment after almost whispering to her. One thing was for sure – he didn't save her just out of good intentions or sympathy for her. He had a plan.
"I can't tell, maybe some of your ribs are broken, Em.", Jon said softly. "You need a medic."
I shook my head. "I am fine." I said, lifting my arms up to my face and folding them over my eyes. Silently, I let a few tears run from them. This was a nightmare. How would I get out of it?

This night, I barely slept. Everytime I was close to falling asleep, Vaas' voice came back to my ear: "You're mine". He haunted me the whole night and I kept thinking about how such a monstrous person could be so scary and fascinating at the same time.
The next morning, Maggie was awake. She was considerably fine, but the wound on her chest was deep. As for me, lots of hematomas covered my body and every move hurt. Luckily, it didn't seem like any ribs were broken, at least that pain eased a bit. Around noon, two pirates made their way to the cage we were kept in. They held a plate of rice, which served as our dish for the day. As Maggie and Jon were eating, the two men camped outside the bars, smoking cigarettes and gossiping. I couldn't bring myself to at something, eventhough I should've been starving. It was just the thought of what happened and what would happen and I would have rather starved myself to death than to die from the hand of one of those criminals. "You not eating, little firecracker?" Instead of an answer, I stared right in the pirate's face. "Well, you'll die either way. I don't really care for how" With a laugh he picked up the plate and the two of them took off.
"You need to eat!" Maggie was worried; I could see it in her eyes. "I know what I'm doing." – "Well, I certainly hope so." She placed a hand on top of mine. "We need you, now more than ever. You know that, right?" – "Yes" I answered, even though I didn't see how I could be helpful for them in a situation like this. There was no way out – all we could hope for was a quick death. I had lost hope, now that I had seen what the pirates were capable of. I was not scared of death. Maggie smiled at me softly.
In the afternoon, I just had managed to get a little bit of sleep off a nap, I was awoken by Maggie and Jon hovering around in the cage. I opened my eyes and instantly saw the fear in their eyes. As I raised my head to see what they were so horrified by, I spotted Vaas making his way over to us. It was the first time that I really got to see him. He wasn't as much of a gorilla as the other pirates were. His body was well-formed, abs just peeking through his red top, his biceps noticeably showing. I just now noticed the large scar on his head. And the enormous knife in his hand.
"Hello hermanos!" he exclaimed as he approached. "You" – he looked directly at me – "I need to have a word with you, cuero." I kept looking at the ground. I wanted to seem unapproachable, as I knew he wanted me to eat the food they gave me. But I wasn't going to do that. It was my way of rebellion. Of dying my way.
"Would you mind looking at me?" Vaas' voice was rising. When I didn't do as he wanted, he continued: "Look me in the eyes, you fuck! You do as I say! What do you think I am, seniorita? Someone to play around with? … Okay. Okay, I understand you. You don't want to eat. Want to die, huh? What a good choice, a good way to die. Huh!? Yeah, you like that. Amigos!" He waved at the couple of guys standing aside, that I hadn't noticed until now. One of them opened up the lock that separated us from the world, and the men started to grab my friends and drag them out of the cage. Vaas now was in it, right in front of me, not giving me any time to react or even get up. The pirate's leader crouched down to me and using quick moves, he placed his hunting knife to my throat. I was now looking directly into his eyes. "Now, cuero, I can end this right here, right now for you. Are you not thankful that I saved your life last night? No?" He flicked his tongue and began running the knife up and down my throat. "You want to play games with me. Huh? I know what hurts you, seniorita, you are vulnerable to me." Now, with his other hand, he began caressing the side of my face that hurt the most, the side that the flesh wound was on. It wasn't as strong of a touch that it would hurt a lot, but just as much so that it slowly began to open up. Outside of the cage, the men were still holding on to my friends, waiting for the next orders Vaas was going to give them.
Again, I was paralyzed; I could not move, nor could I speak. Vaas was now whispering: "Amiga, don't try and play games with me. Just a friendly advice. You do as I say, nobody is going to die here."
I gathered all my pride and all the strength I had and dared to try and push his arms off of me, but as quickly as I did my move, Vaas already had my wrists in his hands, pressing both of them to the metal bars behind me. He was yelling again. "You'll fucking learn then, trust me! Fuck, you will learn!"

He got up, left the cage and started locking it behind him. "Bring the hostages into the camp", he ordered. I was on my feet. "No!"
Vaas blew me a kiss and turned to leave. "No, stop! Vaas! Jon, Maggie! Vaas, come back! No! Vaas, please! Do not hurt my friends! You will pay for this!" But as an answer, I only heard his cracking laughter leaving.
I screamed Vaas' name a couple more times before I realized it would not get me anywhere. He was gone, and even if he could still hear me, it would not have any impact on him. I had to wait until he came back. I felt uneasy and could barely sleep through the rest of the day and the night. What would the pirates do to my friends? Was it because of my rebellion that they now probably were tortured? Were they punished? Vaas had been right. He knew how to hurt me, where I was vulnerable. If you hurt my loved ones. I still thought about the leader of the pirates a lot. What he did was horrible – he was a monster. It was obvious for everyone to see. I didn't want to admit it, but that was not the main reason he still haunted me; his appearance had some other impact on me, even though I had only seen him twice – his touch, the way he had caressed me, I still felt a burn where his hands were yesterday. His touch was dangerous, exciting. I was lusting for the enemy.
The next day I ate the food they gave me. I thought maybe that would change their mood towards me and they'd bring my friends back or even let them go, but the guard's facial expression didn't give a hint.